Agreeing was Daniel de Leon, an Assembly of God pastor representing AMEN, a group of Hispanic evangelical churches. "My people know something about discrimination. The institution of marriage was not created to discriminate against people. It was created to protect children and to give them the best home possible — a home with a mother and a father."

Disagreeing was Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., ranking subcommittee Democrat. "An amendment regarding same-sex marriage would write discrimination into the governing document of our nation." He said he expects bitter battles, saying, "Taking away a group of people's rights forever can never be done in a civil manner."

Likewise, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said, "By endorsing this shameful proposed amendment, in a desperate tactic to divide Americans in an attempt to salvage his faltering re-election campaign, President Bush will go down in history as the first president to try to write bias back into the Constitution."

But Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, said most Americans do not believe it would be discrimination. "Sixty percent of African-Americans oppose same-sex marriage, as do 60 percent of white Americans, according to a November Pew poll. . . . Are they all bigots?"

While some churches praised the amendment plan, others publicly opposed it — including the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations and the Presbyterian Church (USA).

And while key Democrats such as Kennedy and Feingold oppose the proposed amendment, some Democrats have co-sponsored it. (Among those who have publicly supported it is Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.)

And while Hatch and Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., support the proposed amendment, Sen. Lincoln Chaffee, R-R.I., joined opponents of it in a press conference Wednesday.

Also, many conservatives do not like amending the Constitution at all — while others want to go even further than Bush to also ban "civil unions" for gays. Sen. Bob Bennett and Rep. Rob Bishop, both R-Utah, have not yet endorsed amending the Constitution, saying they want to look at all options to defend traditional marriage.

One well-known conservative, Chuck Muth, president of Citizen Outreach, blasted the proposed amendment at the hearing. "We strongly oppose the notion of addressing this issue of social policy in our nation's governing document."

He likened the amendment to another one proposed a century ago to ban interracial marriage. Muth said, "If Congress moves forward with this current marriage amendment, I suggest that Americans 100 years from now will likely look back on this distinguished body with equal amazement, if not disgust."

Hatch said more hearings are likely to look at competing amendments and other options to defend traditional marriage.

Enacting a constitutional amendment requires passage in both houses of Congress by two-thirds majorities and ratification by legislatures in three-fourths of the states. Hatch said obtaining a two-thirds majority in the Senate this year will be difficult.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com